Global Peace Film Festival

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL: The Global Peace Film Festival is story and community in action. As Martin Luther King, Jr posited, “Peace is not only the absence of conflict, but also the presence of justice.” Since the search for justice resides in stories beyond war, GPFF seeks stories that make us laugh, think, cry, sit taller in our seats, then ask, “What can I do?” To answer that question, we pair films with post-screening discussions and events that inspire and catalyze our audiences to take positive, non-violent action. Beyond the program, GPFF collaborates with filmmakers, changemakers and organizations to model, inspire and track peaceful change on the personal, local, national or global level. Our motto is “It starts here” because the real work of our mission starts when the lights come up and our audience meets the inspiration of our programming with their own good works.

To fulfill our mission, we center our programming decisions in our collaborations with our community partners (see our website for our community partner list) while weaving in stories from around the world. Models of positive action and peace are most welcomed.

WHAT IS THE GPFF?
GPFF is a social change arts organization providing year-round programming such as participation as an Indie Lens Pop-up partner with ITVS, and other services that include impact consulting and fiscal sponsorship. The annual event celebrates community; serves as a hub for educators, activists and creative artists; honors the International Day of Peace, September 21; and consists of online and in-person film, arts and other programming.

WHY PARTICIPATE IN THE GPFF FESTIVAL?
With so many festivals, GPFF understands that each filmmaker must carefully weigh the costs and benefits of each festival opportunity. GPFF is focused on catalyzing community engagement and positive, peaceful action. It is not a competitive event, but a forum for education and inspiration. If part of your festival plan involves the launch/roll-out of an impact campaign or you are seeking opportunities to connect with audiences over the issues and ideas contained in your work, GPFF is a good fit. To support impact campaigns centered on films, GPFF leverages over 20 years in the community. Impact campaign collaborations have ranged from the inclusion of campaign surveys to bringing together policy and community stakeholders around issues such as migrant workers, the environment, climate change, voting rights, women’s rights, trafficking, elder care and homelessness. GPFF is not a passive exhibition event, but a commitment to building relationships and resources aimed at increasing the presence of justice year round.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PARTICIPATING IN GPFF?
Please consider visiting our profile page on GreatNonprofits.org to read testimonials from filmmakers, impact producers and others speaking to the character of our organization and the work we accomplish with our partners. Films submitted may be programmed as part of either the ticketed programs (one live and the other accessible online through a streaming service) or the unticketed online program. The live program is most closely aligned with community issues and opportunities for impact campaign initiatives and discussions. The ticketed streaming accessible program includes titles from our live program along with additional, mostly feature-length films. The unticketed program consists mostly of shorts (links hosted on YouTube or Vimeo are embedded on the GPFF site). GPFF serves an economically diverse audience, so removing access barriers to films with impact themes and actionable topics is important to the GPFF mission.
For those filmmakers who can attend the live event, the festival offsets and reimburses some travel expenses (details upon invitation and acceptance). In advance of the festival, GPFF will record interviews and topic panels with participating filmmakers. Please check out our YouTube Channel for last year’s recordings.

GPFF works closely with educators, local civic groups and organizers. Because of GPFF’s partnerships with local colleges, our audience is younger than traditional film festivals and more economically diverse.

The cornerstone of our program is our service to the greater Orlando area communities. The festival has always remained sensitive to the issues of our loyal audiences. Our community partners are working on local campaigns on issues including juvenile justice, gun safety, immigration, refugees, trafficking, LGBT+ rights, ACEs, poverty abatement and (re)building unity based on our common humanity. We have always welcomed Spanish-language work to serve our sisters and brothers in the growing Latino community in Central Florida. Narratives and documentaries, feature and shorts, personal and global stories, heart-wrenching and wryly humorous - all are welcomed for consideration.

CATEGORIES/THEMES
Global Peace/Activism
Conflict Resolution
Social Inequality (Class, Race, Gender, Ability, Age, etc.)
LGBTQ+
BLM/Diversity Equity and Inclusion
Differing Abilities/Ableism
Women's Rights/Women's Issues
Interfaith/Philosophy/Religious Tolerance
Environment/Environmental Justice
Climate Change/Sustainable Energy/Economic Policy
Fair Trade/New Business Models
Food & Water Security and Related Issues
Aging
Music and the Arts
Human Trafficking/Slavery
Community Mediation
Youth as Change Agents
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Comedy/Satire
Sports and Recreation
Immigration